Two Arrested for Ortega Park Assault

Friday, August 16, 2013

A 17-year-old juvenile and a 19-year-old, David Robert Ybarra, were arrested for an incident in which Ybarra hit a man in the temple with a hammer, according to Santa Barbara police. They were charged with attempted murder, attempted robbery, participation in a criminal street gang, and commission of a hate crime.

According to an SBPD press release, the two suspects and a third companion told a group of men who were playing cards in Ortega Park to get lost because they were Mexican. They also demanded money. When one of the card players whistled, the three instigators — who had identified themselves as gang members — interpreted it as a challenge. They approached the victim, and Ybarra extracted a hammer from somewhere beneath his clothing before hitting the man on his head. The three alleged gang members then fled the scene. The victim was also gone by the time police arrived after receiving a 911 call at 10:08 p.m.

The police found witnesses and the crime scene, and eventually found the victim at his home. He was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Emergency Room to be treated, and required a week-long stay.

Ybarra was arrested on August 9 and booked into County Jail with a bail of $780,000. He had just been released for a separate offense. The juvenile — whom the District Attorney plans on prosecuting as an adult — was taken into custody on August 11. He too had been detained for another offense.

Because the victim was allegedly targeted for his nationality, police added the hate crime charge.

lawdy: Publishing anecdotal unreferenced comments about incidents that occurred over a period of years while ignoring proven solutions to the problem is a sales and marketing tactic that's not nearly as effective as censoring comments that don't support Byrne's sales job on a gang injunction. Unfortunately, perception management (propaganda) isn't a robust solution to anything other than the personal goals of individuals or private interest groups. Byrne's attempt to encourage non-thinking emotional decision-making by ignoring all relevant facts is pretty insulting to local residents, but fortunately many of us are just too smart for that kind of non-journalism.

So let's see....BOTH just released for prior offenses! What is it with these folks??!! Really!

These people live in a Twilight Zone, Bizzaro World of logic. Young sociopaths growing up to be adult sociopaths. Where were the damn parents?? Crowned this guy with a hammer for being a Mexican National? These punks think they own the parks and the hood they live in. A sick culture for sure. if you read Edhat and Santa Barbara Sentinel you would see that similar events as well as multiple bum fights etc. are occurring DAILY. Read the article in SB Sentinal, Living with gangs, view from the street by Sharon Byrne/ or www. sbview.com. These gangs and wanna be's are helping, along with the unmanageable transient population, to help destroy our hard earned quality of life here. Enough is enough. WHERE are our leaders on this?? Let me guess...another similar event from the usual suspects will occur in the next 24 to 48 hours. Or less.

"14 love anecdotes about the poor and downtrodden when they portray themselves as victims but hates anecdotes when they do not support his cause."-- italiansurgWhich makes him different from everyone else how?

Most reasonable folks use anecdotes to:help explain why they hold an opinion, not as proof that their opinion is fact;demonstrate, through submission of a contradictory anecdote, that someone foolish enough to use an anecdote as "data" has no proof of anything.